MN Progressive Project: Republicans opposed to shining the light on ALEC activities in Minnesota
by: The Big E Tue Mar 27, 2012 at 18:00:00 PM CDT
When you see a Republican at the legislature unable to explain a finer point of his bill or doesn’t even sounds unfamiliar with her bill, don’t be surprised. The American Legislative Exchange Council (ALEC) wrote the bill for him/her. The Koch Brothers funded organization is pushing all kinds of bad ideas in Republican-controlled legislature across the country. They are also hiding as a nonprofit to avoid the transparency lobbyists face. Sen. Scott Dibble (DFL-Mpls) proposed shining the light on ALEC’s activities at the State Capitol. Unsurprisingly, the MNGOP is opposed and his amendment failed. “This was a common-sense amendment that would have added more transparency to our political system,” Sen. Dibble said. “This is the type of information every Minnesotan deserves to have. Our state already has very strong campaign finance and lobbying laws that require lawmakers to disclose which lobbyists send them money; this amendment simply makes sure there’s not a loophole that allows certain special interests to hide from public view.”